When merchandise is displayed on racks for retail sale, or the like, it is desirable for various kinds, brands and sizes of merchandise on a particular rack to be separated by signs which are indicative of the type, size, etc., of the merchandise in the next adjacent group of merchandise on the rack. These signs are typically in the form of frames, panels, or other card-holders, which hold display cards above the rack indicating to the customer information, for example, as to the size and/or type of merchandise on the other side of the sign. Thus, these signs encourage neat stocking of the display racks and orderly, attractive, displays of the merchandise that facilitates selection by the customer and promotes sales.
To be satisfactory, such a sign should be sufficiently large so that the message thereon can be easily read or seen by customers, even those whose eyesight is not the best, yet without interfering with the overall appearance of the retail establishment or with the ability of customers to observe other merchandise displays in the store, while standing close to one of such displays. The card holders must also not interfere with removal of merchandise from the racks, whether by the customers or by employees. Display cards, or signs, of approximately seven to eight inches in height and ten to eleven inches in width, have been found satisfactory. Such cards require panels or card holders of substantially the same size, or, if the card holder is in the form of a frame supporting the sign therein, only slightly larger in size. Obviously such card holders should also be inexpensive and are, therefore, typically formed of plastic material. While the card holder should be relatively light in weight, the sheer size of the cards and the necessary frame results in a considerable overlying weight for the assembly, which is typically mounted on a central downwardly extending stem; the two opposite end portions of the frame being essentially cantilevered with respect to the stem.
Nevertheless, once in place on a rack the sign holder should securely resist inadvertent displacement. Merchandise display arrangements are changed rather frequently, however, to stimulate customer interest and keep up with product changes and changing demands; and, therefore, deliberate shifting of a card holder should be quickly and easily accomplished. Since clothing racks typically have horizontal supports in the form of rods having a rectangular cross-section and since the panel of the sign holders extends a substantial distance on each side of such rod and must be balanced thereon through the central stem of the card holder, the known devices had their stems attached to a base supported on, and magnetically adhered to, the top horizontal surface of such rod. The magnets used had to be rather strong since otherwise the card holders of the prior art could readily be inadvertently moved from their desired position on the rack. Such strong magnets, however, added substantially both to the weight and to the cost of the prior art card holders. The rods of clothing racks typically have a vertical height dimension substantially greater than the horizontal width dimension. Consequently, only a relatively narrow horizontal surface is available at the top of such rod for magnetic attachment, which is one principal reasons why the prior art sign holders, supported entirely on such top surface, required a relatively powerful magnet.